Out tomorrow, Core Keeper‘s first major update, The Sunken Sea, certainly doesn’t disappoint.
It’s a huge update, particularly considering that it has only been in Early Access for three months. Developer Pugstorm is doing an incredible job, and a great game has just got even better. The Sunken Sea adds an entire new biome to Core Keeper – funnily enough, called the Sunken Sea – giving players a huge new area to explore, one that’s filled with new threats to encounter and new stuff to be discovered.
The downside? You need to have progressed far enough into Core Keeper to access The Sunken Sea, and we have to wonder how many players will be at this point yet. Before you can reach The Sunken Sea, you’ll need to have beaten the first three Titan bosses and lowered the Great Wall.
Essentially, you’ll need to have done just about everything you could to progress. For those players who have: fantastic! A new area awaits. But for everyone else? You’re going to have to keep plugging away until you can get there.
But take our word for it: it’s worth the wait. The Sunken Sea is simply beautiful. We love the visuals of Core Keeper anyway; this is pixel art at its finest, packed with detail and each biome having its own unique feeling. But The Sunken Sea takes that to the next level.
Whether you’re on land, treading through a mysterious water temple housing huge golems inside, or whether you’re sailing across a crystal blue body of water, it’s simply stunning. The colour palette really pops compared to the browns and oranges that dominate Core Keeper‘s other areas.
Watch us explore a section of The Sunken Sea in the video below:
Of course, there’s more than just a pretty new area to explore. With a new biome comes a new type of ore (Octarine). And a new type of ore means a whole new suite of items that can be crafted. There are of course new enemy types to battle against, too, all posing quite the threat – although if you’ve made it this far in the game, it’s safe to say you should be fully equipped for what awaits you.
You will have more work to do before you can take on the Sunken Sea’s brand new titan though. Oh yes, there’s another great boss to take down. This time, it’s Omoroth the Sea Titan, who you’ll find lurking beneath the waves. We haven’t reached him yet. We’re not quite ready. But we will be.
The Sunken Sea update also adds new items, like a Jewellery Workbench and a Fishing Bait Workbench, giving you even more crafting power than ever. And being surrounded by water means that there’s never been a better location to go fishing in. You can also now craft fancy-looking portals, taking you from one area of the world to another. After all, Core Keeper‘s map is huger than ever, and you’re still going to want to move around it.
We still have more to dig into with Core Keeper‘s The Sunken Sea update. But needless to say, we’re impressed. Pugstorm really has created something special with Core Keeper, and it’s only going from strength to strength.
